Coming to the rescue of children across Kodagu who have lost their textbooks in landslides and floods, the state government on Wednesday ordered free distribution of textbooks.
DH had reported on the government’s decision to replace the textbooks inits edition dated August 22.
The Karnataka Text Book Society issued a direction to the DDPI, Kodagu, on Monday, to distribute textbooks free of cost to the children of Kodagu. “As students of the districts have lost their books in the floods, the BEOs of every block in Kodagu are hereby directed to distribute free books to all the children,” the order said.
The Karnataka Text Book Society has already supplied 33,980 textbooks on Saturday compared to the required 34,270 textbooks.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> States> Top Karnataka News / by Niranjan K N , DH News Service / August 29th, 2018
The team of doctors from Bengaluru attend to a patient at a relief camp in Kodagu.
A team of Bengaluru-based medical professionals hopped in a car and headed to Kodagu last week, where they treated hundreds of people affected by recent flooding.
The most common ailments that they encountered included minor orthopaedic injuries, diarrhoea, cough, cold, fever, and stomach ache.
Many of the patients were already suffering from mental illnesses.
“Most of the patients have psychosomatic disorder. They need counselling,” said Dr Sunil Kumar Hebbi, organiser of the medical relief mission and founder of the social initiative, Matru Siri Foundation.
One such patient, Hebbi explained, had lost her house, cow, and job—her employer’s coffee estate had suffered severe damage. She cried frequently.
Doctors Deepak Vastrad, Harsha Attibele, and Pradeep also participated in the mission, along with Anamika Kumari, who assisted the doctors and offered counselling services.
“They were in a state of shock. Kids were badly affected, the situation led to mental and physical agony and trauma,” Dr Hebbi told the DH. “Our counselling was intended to cheer them up—to make them talk freely with us, thus to be out of panic, bring confidence among them to return to normal life, giving hope to children to go back to school as early as possible. It was great support to women who were shy to come out to express their feelings and personal needs.”
The small crew began their journey last Monday, when they visited three relief camps at government schools in and around Kushalnagar. On Tuesday, they stopped by two camps at Suntikoppa—Saint Mary Church and Jamia Masjid. The doctors visited one more camp at Rudra Layout in Kushalnagara on Wednesday.
While his team arrived armed with hundreds of various medications, Hebbi told DH that their greatest challenge was lack of proper blood sugar medications.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> States> Top Karnataka News / by Grace Hanuck, DH News Service / August 29th, 2018
Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan won 6-3, 6-4 to become the fifth men’s doubles pairing to win gold at the Asian Games.
Tennis – 2018 Asian Games – Men’s Doubles – Final – JSC Tennis Court – Palembang, Indonesia – August 24, 2018. Rohan Manchanda Bopanna and Divij Sharan of India shake hands with Aleksandr Bublik and Denis Yevseyev of Kazakhstan after winning their match. REUTERS/Edgar Su
Top seeded men’s doubles pairing of Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan won India’s second medal in tennis – after bronze for Ankita Raina in women’s singles – at Palembang in the Asian Games. The duo produced clinical display of attacking tennis to beat the Kazakhstan pairing of Aleksander Bublik and Denis Yevseyev 6-3, 6-4 in 52 minutes.
In under 20 minutes, Bopanna-Sharan had taken a 4-1 lead in the opening set with two breaks of serves under their command. Soon enough, Bopanna got the job done to wrap up the opening set thanks to his booming serves and Divij’s confident play at the net. Kazakhs did have their moments but were undone by erratic and inconsistent play – a brilliant cross-court backhand winner one moment was followed up by a powerless return buried in the net the very next minute.
Bopanna who played mostly from the back of the court was formidable in his returns. He pulled off some tough winners helped by his sheer force.
Second set was a more evenly contested affair with Bublik and Yevseyev connecting better but they couldn’t keep their unforced error count low to put pressure on the Indian pairing. At 3-3, Bopanna and Sharan clinched the all-important break to go up and despite being pushed a bit in the very next game, the top seeds held serve to grab a 5-3 lead. Kazakhs held their serve to put the onus on Bopanna to hold for the gold medal – which he did so by serving it out to love.
India have claimed the men’s doubles gold on four occasions at the Asian Games, the last pair being Somdev Devvarman and Sanam Singh in the 2010 Guangzhou edition. Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes remain the most successful Indian men’s doubles pair in the Asian Games history, having claimed back-to-back gold medals in the 2002 and 2006 Games.
Paes, however, had stunned the Indian team this time by pulling out on the eve of the Games after complaining of not getting a specialist partner of his choice.
In 2014, Saketh Myneni and Sanam had ended with a silver medal.
(With PTI inputs)
source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> Sports> Asian Games 2018 / by Sports Desk / August 24th, 2018
Old-timers and environmentalists blame tourism for the devastating floods in Kodagu
Shattered hopes: As many as 1,206 houses and 278 government buildings were damaged in the Kodagu floods | Bhanu Prakash Chandra
IF THE RAINS had not wreaked havoc in Kodagu, Karnataka’s coffee country would be preparing for ‘Kail Murta’, a festival in which the Kodavas worship their weapons. But, the district, which got battered by flash floods and landslides that took 12 lives and rendered more than 1,500 families homeless, is now left with just one weapon: resilience.
On the midnight of August 15, torrential rains started pounding Kodagu. The hills cracked up and tumbled down, and the rivers swallowed everything on their way—century-old houses, brand-new homestays, tiny tea shops, lush green paddy fields, vast stretches of coffee plantations, forests, livestock, bridges and vehicles. Incessant rains submerged low-lying areas in Kushalnagar, Somwarpet and Madikeri, pilgrimage centres like Talacauvery and Bhagamandala, and major bridges like Bethri, while landslides along the national highways turned those into death traps.
By the time the district administration launched rescue operations, the communication lines were cut off and most villages had become inaccessible. Heavy rains, tough terrain and scattered habitations made rescue operations a daunting task even for the armed forces and the National Disaster Response Force. Many people were hungry and exhausted when the rescue teams finally reached them.
Manu Madappa from Mukkodlu village said around 40 people took refuge in his homestay for three days. But with no help arriving, they decided to trek to Madikeri. “We covered a distance of 20km, walking in the rain on a muddied path, and made it to a relief camp in Madikeri,” he said.
As many as 51 relief centres have been opened across the district, sheltering 7,594 people as on August 22. NGOs have ensured an uninterrupted flow of relief material to these camps. The Kodava Samaj in Bengaluru and Mysuru are the nerve centres for organising relief material.
Local MP Pratap Simha, who was part of the rescue operations, said the devastation was unimaginable. “Incessant rains prevented airlifting of stranded people although three Army choppers were on standby. After I sent an SOS to Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the Army unit from Karwar was rushed in,” he said. “The relief centres are working well, and our next big challenge is rehabilitation. We will need huge cash donations to rebuild homes.” According to the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre, 1,206 houses and 123 kilometres of roads have been damaged, 58 bridges and culverts have collapsed, 278 government buildings and 3,800 electric poles and transformers have been severely damaged.
Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, who conducted an aerial survey, said the infrastructure damage alone amounted to Rs 3,000 crore. “A team of engineers from the Border Roads Organisation and the Army engineering task force have been called in to clear roads and restore them,” said Kumaraswamy. “A team from the National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad, is conducting geotechnical studies to ascertain the causes of landslides. We have deputed two IAS probationers to fasten the process of identifying the lands for rebuilding 2,000 temporary homes.” he said.
The government has promised Rs 3,800 per family, along with essential groceries as immediate relief. The chief minister has promised the affected people work under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and offered to issue provisional documents for those who have lost their Aadhaar and ration cards and title deeds. “Rs 5 lakh will be given to the family of the deceased. Special classes and books for children are also being planned,” said Kumaraswamy.
The rainfall was unprecedented, but old-timers and environmentalists said the alarming plight of Kodagu was the fallout of the booming tourism industry. G.S. Srinivas Reddy, director of the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre, said Kodagu received 103 per cent more rainfall than normal this year.
U.M. Poovaiah, editor of Brahmagiri, a Kodava weekly, said he had never seen or heard of such devastation in the history of Kodagu. “This is the fallout of unregulated tourism that has razed down the hills to make roads to homestays. The riverbed has been encroached upon. Unplanned construction has pushed the district to the edge. The authorities are to blame for the influx of tourists and atrocities against nature in this once-pristine district. We want unlicensed homestays and construction activity to be stopped,” said Poovaiah.
The Coorg Wildlife Society, too, blamed the severe stress on Kodagu because of the change in land use and unbridled tourism. In a letter sent last May to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the CWS wrote, “Kodagu provides almost 50 per cent of the total inflow into Cauvery, which is the lifeline of South India, and provides water to over 80 million people and 600 major industries across the region. The food, water and economic security of southern India hinges largely on Cauvery River. It is therefore in national interest to preserve the Kodagu landscape and protect its ecosystems.”
Colonel (retd) C.P. Muthanna, president of CWS and co-ordinator of the Save Kodagu and Cauvery campaign, said more than 2,800 acres of paddy fields, coffee plantations and highlands were converted to residential layouts, sites, commercial complexes and resorts between 2005 and 2015. “Kodagu’s fast-paced urbanisation will turn it into a slum,” said Muthanna. Earlier this year, he had urged the Karnataka government to regulate tourism in the region and demanded an audit of water and waste and sewage management in the resorts. “While Kodagu has a population of 5.5 lakh, the number of tourists goes up to 13 lakh,” he said.
A report by the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, said massive deforestation and monoculture plantations caused the landslides. “Trees hold the top soil and also absorb and regulate the flow of rainwater. But deforestation for construction of roads and power lines have resulted in soil erosion,” said T.V. Ramachandra of the centre. “If the government wants to avert disasters, it should not take up any mega projects.”
source: http://www.theweek.in / The Week / Home> The Week> Cover Story / by Prathima Nandakumar / September 02nd, 2018
Dipika Pallikal had beaten Japanese Kobayashi Misaki 3-0 in the quarterfinals. File | Photo Credit: Getty Images
Dipika lost to defending champion Nicol David; Joshna lost to Sivasangari Subramaniam
India’s top squash player Dipika Pallikal Karthik on Saturday, settled for a bronze medal, her second at the Asian Games, after losing her semifinal match to Malaysia’s Nicole David, one of the most formidable players the game has seen.
Later in the day, Joshna Chinappa failed to match up to the level of her 19-year-old opponent, Malaysian Sivasangari Subramaniam, losing 1-3 (10-12 6-11 11-9 7-11).
Both the losing semifinalists win a bronze and there is no bronze-medal play-off.
Saurav Ghosal is the lone Indian squash player remaining in the fray and will take on Hong Kong China’s Au Chun Ming in the men’s singles semifinals later in the day.
Dipika led 5-2 and 4-1 in the first two games but three-time defending champion Nicol had enough experience to race away with a 11-7 11-9 11-6 win in the semifinal.
Dipika, who had won a bronze at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, said playing against former world number one Nicol, currently ranked ninth, was not easy.
“She is experienced and knows how to handle every situation, thrown at her. She was world number one for 10 years for a reason. I am happy I played well. It’s unfortunate that I was in top-half to play with Nicol,” she said.
To focus on team event
The 26-year-old Dipika said she had to forget the defeat and get focused on the winning the gold in women’s team event.
“We have a gold to achieve in team event. you can’t think much about what has happened in the singles. It’s hard to regroup and comeback but we have to do it. We don’t want to celebrate as yet, we have a bigger target to achieve,” she said.
The Indian women’s team had won a silver in Incheon.
Asked if a few calls which went against her perturbed her, Dipika said, “We are used to it. It’s part and parcel of the game. She has been playing Asian Games for a long time, she is very experienced. I think you have take positives out of it. I am only 26, I have few more Asian Games to go. Hopefully I welcome back strong.”
Nicol is 35 years old and still going strong. Dipika said it’s Nicol’s time and she will have to wait for her time.
“Squash is about how fit you are, how much you enjoy the game. We can see she really enjoys the game. This is only my third Asian Games. Let the older one win here and we will comeback after four years and win.”
The Indian squash players have trained without a regular coach for some time.
The SRFI had sent Cyrus Poncha and Bhuvneshwari Kumari as coaches with the contingent but Dipika said the players prefer helping each other.
“All of us like to be coached by the players. Only the player will talk to the players, it works like that for us. It’s a silent decision taken by the players. Harry (Harinderpal Sandhu), Saurav (Ghosal), we are all training together.
The story was updated to include the results of Joshna Chinappa’s match
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sports> Other Sports / by PTI / Jakarta, August 25th, 2018
Far beyond social-friendly drone footage, here’s a noble use of drones by an Indian company during flood rescue.
As the state of Kerala is observing its popular festival of Onam, the restrained celebration is a testament to the recent deluge witnessed by the state over the past week. Rehabilitation, rather than celebration, seems to be top priority of the people of Kerala. After a heartbreaking loss of over 300 lives, the state has come to a halt. But while, most of the world’s attention has been targeted at Kerala, the situation was equally grave in the neighboring state of Karnataka. The district of Kodagu, earlier known as Coorg, has been at the receiving end of heavy rains and resulting floods as well.
____________________________________
Highlights
August witnessed heavy rainfall in the Kodagu district of Karnataka, as well as Kerala
Although Kerala suffered loss of over 300 lives, the situation in Karnataka was equally sombre
A Mumbai-based company that works with DRDO coordinated surveillance efforts with its indigenous drones
____________________________________
The relief operation
The crisis began immediately after Independence Day. On the 17th and 18th August, ideaForge reached out to the Governments of Kerala and Karnataka, respectively. The company had already begun internal efforts on August 16 to prepare for operations when needed
ideaForge team carrying out checks before embarking on its mission. Image: ideaForge
Since the situation in Kerala was worsening, the machinery was focussing on getting the defense forces active. Immediate need from Kerala was surveillance and supply drops. Typically in such disaster relief missions, surveillance refers to identifying and locating people stranded in inaccessible areas. Similarly, supply drops refer to airdropping medicines, food packets and other critical needs over inaccessible areas. For the mission, the company identified two of its products – Netra Pro and Q series.
Transporting drone batteries is a critical component of the whole operation. Since civil aviation rules do not currently allow transporting drone batteries, the company requested the two governments to allow transporting them through the military sorties that were being carried out from Mumbai.
The team reached Kodagu the next day on August 20. The team had received a request from the Kodagu district collector for drone surveillance to identify people stranded in remote places. The company sourced the relevant products, carried out necessary testing procedures and safety checks before embarking on the surveillance and airdrop mission.
Meanwhile, the District Collector in Madikeri needed help with post damage assessment. The team reached Coorg on Monday, and sought permissions to fly. The team did a recce while on standby. After receiving permissions, they carried out their first surveillance and mapping operation on Wednesday, August 22. The Q Series and Netra Pro drones were used for this purpose.
The Netra Pro Drone Image: ideaForge
In less than a day, the report was submitted to the District Collector. Currently, the Karnataka State Police Department, Commissioner’s Office, National Highway Authority of India, Tribal Welfare Department and the local PWD are collectively using the images for rebuilding and rehabilitation operations. Over Friday, August 24 and as of writing this report, drones are carrying out operations in the deeper tribal areas to survey and rescue any stranded victims.
The Netra Q Series Image: ideaForge
According to Ankit Mehta, co-founder of ideaForge, “Being at the forefront of UAV technology, we will do our best to leverage this tech in times of need. For us it is about saving one life or at least helping one family in whatever way to recover from this natural disaster”
There’s more to drones than toying around
ideaForge develops drones that has been used by DRDO for its unmanned aerial vehicle program. It is led by Ankit Mehta alongwith Ashish Bhat and Rahul Singh who are alumnis of IIT Bombay. As students, they were part of the Innovation Cell at IIT Bombay, and took a special interest in foraging broken down bikes and scooters to create a hovercraft. The idea back then was to fly over the Powai lake situated near the IIT Bombay campus. After a couple of failures, and some significant mishaps that included connection cables getting chopped by the propeller, they finally managed to get a working prototype up and running.
Mehta is glad he didn’t cease his efforts there. After the initial disappointments, they got an opportunity to build a data loggers for UAVs from the Department of Aerospace at IIT Bombay. One thing led to the other, and the initial idea of flying over Powai lake gave birth to the company ideaForge, which was created at the Innovation Hub of IIT Bombay. Years later, ideaForge built and handed over the world’s smallest and lightest autopilot to DRDO. After an agreement was signed with the DRDO, ideaForge has worked with DRDO and NDRF for collaborating in rescue efforts during natural calamities. During the 2015 earthquake that rocked Nepal, drones made by the company aided with rescue efforts, relaying critical geographical and infrastructure status reports and information to the rescue team to plan out operations.
Far beyond viral video footage, we’re used to seeing on Facebook and YouTube, this is one novel use of drones that has resulted in saving critical human lives. The relaying of valuable information despite ground level challenges has been invaluable. The company has also mentioned its channel partner Arista Risk and Corporate Solutions in enabling necessary connections with government bodies and law enforcement authorities to seek necessary permissions.
source: http://www.bgr.in / BGR / Home> Features / by Nash David / August 25th, 2018
Seeds of chilli, brinjal, tomato, gourds, and radish will be given to farmers. | Photo Credit: Photo courtesy: Annadana
NGO to donate indigenous vegetable seeds to farmers to ‘bring back diversity lost in the floods’
After the deluge, it is time to pick up the pieces. For many who are dependent on agriculture for their livelihood, it is going to be a start from scratch. A not-for-profit headquartered in Bengaluru is now offering to help farmers with the first steps.
Annadana Soil and Seed Savers Network, which, among other things, conserves heritage seeds, plans to donate indigenous vegetable seeds to “bring back the diversity that has been lost in the devastating floods in Kerala and Kodagu”.
These species, said founding trustee and chairperson Sangita Sharma, were taken from the same places that they will be going back to and include ginger, turmeric, chilli, brinjal, tomato, gourds, and radish.
“Annadana has been conserving heritage seeds for 17 years. Each year, around 20,000 to 30,000 seeds are given to farmers. We participate in seed exchange and sharing sessions and we have varieties collected during our visits to Kerala. We plan to give these indigenous seeds to Kerala and connect them back with them. After these floods, there is a need to revive the diversity that has been lost,” she said.
With the full impact of the devastation yet to be known, making it difficult to know the number of farmers affected and the number of seeds required, the NGO intends to distribute the free seeds to farmers in Kerala and Kodagu through networks of farmers. It also plans to offer technical expertise as well in helping farmers regenerate their soil through its ‘empowered farmers’ who double as master trainers.
“There is total devastation right now. Crops such as rubber, coconut, teak, and timber do not have the water-holding capacity like the forest species have. Forests must remain forests. The entire ecosystem has been shaken up in the recent past. The farmers in these regions now have a lot of work. They need to find out what was coexisting there and reintroduce that. Forests will have to be revived. We want to offer our expertise and revive food species. If the soil is healthy, indigenous varieties will quickly adapt themselves,” added Ms. Sharma.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by K.C. Deepika / Bengaluru – August 25th, 2018
After rains, coffee planters in Kodagu are gripped by the fear of black rot disease and berry droppings. Spices like black pepper and cardamom produced in the coffee estates have also perished, beside paddy fields being washed away.
The district, which is known for its coffee production worldwide, may have abysmally low coffee and agriculture output this year. The coffee growers, especially small planters, will be hit by the black rot disease, increase in berry droppings and fungal disease to the crop.
Naj Chengappa, a coffee planter, said, “The disease will affect both Arabica and Robusta coffee due to excess rainfall. The most striking symptoms are blackening and rotting of the leaves and tender berries.”
The growers are already worried about falling coffee prices in the past two years. The diseases following the flood will add to their sufferings. Black pepper crop, grown extensively in coffee plantations in the district, also suffers from droppings and fungal diseases. Cardamom is grown in parts of North Kodagu. The crop has suffered heavy damages due to landslides and flood. “Since there is no proper sunlight in Kodagu for almost a month now, this will cause fungal disease to coffee, black pepper and cardamom grown particularly in the North Kodagu areas like Madikeri, Napoklu, and Somwarpet,” said Naj.
According to Kaibulira Harish Appaiah, president of Kodagu Growers’ Association, the rain this year has caused 60% loss for coffee and pepper crops in the district. “Due to rain-related disease to coffee, 98.5% small growers will be affected. The crop requires at least two years to recover from rain-related diseases.” “The government has to waive the loans of farmers and come out with relief packages to compensate for the crop damages,” he said. According to sources in the Horticulture department, an estimated 47,000 hectares of arecanut plantations have been affected due to heavy rain. Arecanut is majorly grown in DK, Uttara Kannada, Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga. “The rain has caused fungal diseases in arecanut crop, which will affect the output this year,” said Y S Patil, horticulture department commissioner.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State / by Darshan Devaiah B P, DH News Service / Bengaluru – August 22nd, 2018
Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan of India celebrate after winning the Asian Games doubles gold against Aleksandr Bublik and Denis Yevseyev of Kazakhstan. l
Rohan Bopanna fought a wave of emotions as the Indian flag went up to the tune of the National anthem in the background. Even as he and Divij Sharan soaked in the maiden Asian Games gold triumph, his thoughts flew to home district Kodagu, which has been ravaged by floods. The 38-year-old dedicated his medal to the flood victims.
“I am really happy we could deliver a gold for India. I think more than me winning the gold medal it is sending a big, positive message from Palembang to Coorg. Everyday I have been talking to my parents, friends, seen so many people going through such hard times.
“I dedicate this medal to them, to all those who are constantly giving support. That’s why I was flooded with emotions when the national anthem was playing,” Bopanna told DH.
Bopanna was happy the way he and Divij stuck through the tough quarterfinal and semifinal matches before prevailing over Kazakhstan’s Aleksandr Bublik and Denis Yevseyev in the final.
“The way Divij has been playing this entire year, we were confident. He is a very positive person on the court. But having said that with the format of no ad scoring and super-tie breaks you never know. We played a couple of teams which you play regularly on Challengers and a few on ATP circuit. It can always get tricky. But I am really glad that we just focused on one match, and one particular opponent,” he said.
Divij, who won his second Asian Games medal, was equally thrilled. “It was very special to win, I have never experienced something like this. I have been putting in a lot of hard work and this year has been really good for me.”
Speaking on their chemistry, the 32-year-old Delhi boy said: “Rohan and I have known each other for a long time, we have both been employed at Indian Oil and have practised quite a lot together. We came through tough matches to the final which gave us the confidence and we settled into each other’s style. In the final we played the deuce points well.”
New doubles pair?
While none would comment on the last-minute pull out of Leander Paes, the two were eager to be paired up together for Davis Cup. “If we are asked to play together then nothing like it. We will surely play whenever we get the opportunity, we have combined well and done well together. So why not? I don’t see a reason why we would not play,” Bopanna admitted.
The next stop for them is the US Open as the two rushed to the airport shortly after the victory ceremony. Until then they can bask under the gleam of a hard-earned gold.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Sports> Asian Games 2018 / by Pragya Tiwari, DH News Service, New Delhi / August 24th, 2018
Sandalwood has come together to help the state of Coorg and its people.
Harshika Poonacha.
“It’s a very painful scenario at relief camps across the flood hit areas of Coorg with conditions at its worst ever,” explains actress Harshika Poonacha, who hails from the beautiful land of Kodagu, which is now facing the wrath of incessant rain after Kerala. The affected people of Kodagu have taken care of so many people in their lives, and fed so many people but today they are so dependent on others, she adds, of the land which has given its best to the nation, be it with the Army or other unique and versatile professions in various fields including sports, culture and tradition, and of course tourism, with a fine blend of their trademark coffee. Coorg is crying for help. And Sandalwood has taken it upon itself to help in the relief work. The film industry has been up and about, lending a helping hand, individually, and inspiring fans to aid in these difficult times. While several artistes, technicians, filmmakers and producers are donating towards flood relief activities, they are now propagating to rebuild Kodagu, and efforts are on to reconstruct an entire village which is badly affected by the floods. Bengaluru Chronicle reports.
“I am here (Kodagu) for the past four days now. The condition is bad. It is very painful to relate to the ground reality. I was serving food the other day, and people were in tears while they got food served,” Harshika shares her experience with a heavy heart, adding that these are people who would not have stayed in their relative’s place even for a day, but they are now staying in relief camps as they are helpless against the fury of nature.
One of the favourite locations for not just the Kannada film industry, but numerous other film industries as well, the Scotland of the south is definitely a favourite amongst filmmakers. While several leading men from Sandalwood have been donating money for relief work, most of them are helping in their personal capacities and facilitating the supply of basic needs like food and water to different areas.
Actress Sanjjanaa Galrani, who left for Coorg on Tuesday to volunteer and help the needy, says, “More and more youngsters should step out of their homes and head to Coorg, to physically help them, rather than just sit at home and pray,” she implores.
No doubt movies and movie stars are among the most effective when it comes to inspiring the public, especially younger minds to follow their footsteps, and they are being urged towards this good cause by many in the industry.
Abhinaya Chakravarthy Kiccha Sudeep, urges his fans, “I request all my fan associations to please look into what best could be done for the rain-affected areas in Karnataka. This is the best gift you all will be giving me. Please, please do your best. These are our people.” he said.
Meanwhile, Crazy Star V Ravichandran has proposed a long-term plan which the entire film industry has backed. He is pressing to turn this initiative into reality. During the mahurat of his new movie, Ravichandra, the Crazy Star declared that the whole industry should come forward and help rebuild Kodagu. “It is best to rebuild an entire village which is badly affected by the floods,” he said, and prominent personalities including Power Star Puneeth Rajkumar, Kiccha Sudeep, Yash, renowned producers have backed this plea.
Even several actress including those hailing from Coorg such as Rashmika Mandanna, Disha Poovaiah, and almost other leading ladies are doing their best. Let us all help and rebuild Kodagu, is Sandalwood’s call for help to pour in to support this wonderful land which is in dire need of relief.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Entertainment> Sandalwood / by ShashPrasad SM / August 22nd, 2018
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